Equilibrium crossing exhibited by an ethynylhelicene (M)-nonamer during random-coil-to-double-helix thermal transition in solution.

The structural change between the random-coil and the double-helix of an ethynylhelicene (M)-nonamer during heating crosses equilibrium. This is a phenomenon where a chemical reaction crosses equilibrium and returns to equilibrium. It is due to an accelerated rate of formation of the double-helix by self-catalysis and an equilibrium shift.